The reasons why some people are generally happier than others are as vast and varied as the individuals themselves. Psychological, physiological, environmental, situational, emotional and genetic factors intertwine to determine a person's predilection towards happiness. There are, however, a number of factors that are particularly effective to promote mental well-being.
Choosing to Be Happy
While it may seem like a gross oversimplification to tell people to "choose" to be happy, in a 2007 Live Science article titled "The Keys to Happiness, and Why We Don't Use Them," Robin Loyd explains that while psychologists continue to tell patients the "keys to happiness," many continue to adhere to comfortable, habitual ways of thinking, stuck in patterns that don’t move them towards an improved sense of well-being.
Moreover, Americans are no happier today than they were 50 years ago despite significant increases in prosperity, decreases in crime, cleaner air, larger living quarters and a better overall quality of life.
So why the long faces?
Happiness, it turns out, is 50 percent genetic, explains researcher David Lykken. What people do with the other half of the equation depends largely on their determination. As Abraham Lincoln once said, "Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be."
To be happy, a person has to habitually shift their paradigms, ingrained mental maps that lead to a way of thinking and responding. Making the shift doesn't require denying negative feelings or pretending something bad feels good; it means consciously focusing on positive aspects in a rotten situation, or if that's not possible, gradually focusing on the positive in other areas.
Practicing Church Behaviors -- Gratitude, Forgiveness, Fellowship & Acts of Kindness
Gregg Easterbrook, author of The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse, [Random House, 2004] explains, "There are selfish reasons to behave in altruistic ways. Research shows that people who are grateful, optimistic and forgiving have better experiences with their lives, more happiness, fewer strokes, and higher incomes," according to Easterbrook. "If it makes the world a better place at the same time, this is a real bonus," he says.
Research shows that being grateful leads people into a higher state of happiness. Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of The How of Happiness [The Penguin Press, 2007], suggests that making a list of things people are grateful for in life, practicing random acts of kindness, forgiving enemies and appreciating life's small pleasures lead to happiness.
Increasing Exposure to Natural Lighting
People are now doused in artificial, non-natural environments, spending hours inside computer worlds and working in window-less offices, often at the expense of the benefits to regular exposure to natural light. Society’s increasing separation from the outside world means people's senses are constantly being assaulted with unnatural noises and low, intense artificial lighting.
Environmental psychologists studying the impact of artificial environments on humans are seeing the detrimental effects in mood, sleep and diurnal rhythm disruption. Chronic exposure to non-natural settings can also wreak havoc on short-term attention and cognitive performance, as well as on long-term academic performance, writes Roger Walsh in his 2011 report, “Lifestyle and Mental Health.”
In a 2002 review for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on the effects of natural light on building occupants, Dr. Ott, an expert cited in the report, explains that the body takes in natural light and uses it as a nutrient for metabolic processes similar to how it uses water and food. Natural light stimulates essential biological functions in the brain, dividing light into colors that are vital to health. This inability to perceive the colors from light can affect mood and energy level.
“When we speak about health, balance, and physiological regulation,” writes Dr. Liberman, another expert cited for the DOE report, “we are referring to the function of the body’s major health keepers; the nervous system and the endocrine system. These major control centers of the body are directly stimulated and regulated by light, to an extent far beyond what modern science…has been willing to accept.”
Getting More Sun or More Vitamin D
The big buzz and push by more doctors for their patients to up their vitamin dose of D stems from D's vast role in the body. While not readily available in foods, D is made in large quantities when sunlight strikes bare skin, the reason a deficiency is more common in the winter. Technically not a vitamin, D is a secosteroid hormone, and unlike vitamins, hormones are the keys to unlocking binding sites on the human genome, the genetic content in organisms.
Dr. John Cannell, the Executive Director of the Vitamin D Council, writes on his website that low D has been associated "in the pathology of at least 17 varieties of cancer as well as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects, periodontal disease, and more."
Vitamin D plays a significant biochemical role in the brain. “Nuclear receptors for vitamin D exist in the brain," writes Cannell on the website, "and vitamin D is involved in the biosynthesis of neurotrophic factors, synthesis of nitric oxide synthase, and increased glutathione levels—all suggesting an important role for vitamin D in brain function. Animal data indicates that tyrosine hydroxylase, the rate-limiting enzyme for all the brain's monoamines, is increased by vitamin D.”
Connecting with Animals
In a 2009 study, Dr. Froma Walsh and team found that bonding with pets strengthens human resilience to crisis, persistent adversity, and disruptive transitions, such as relocation, divorce, widowhood, and adoption. Pets can increase well-being and healing for humans through their relational benefits, with stress reduction and playfulness, loyal companionship, affection, comfort, security, and unconditional love.
"The powerful meaning and significance of companion animals is underestimated," says Walsh. Mental health professionals rarely consider the value and implications of human-animal bonds. Deep pet attachments after the loss of a pet are often marginalized, seen as abnormal, or ignored in theory, training, and practice.
Researchers and pet therapists are trying to prove that animals can be powerful healing partners for patients in a number of settings, including homes, hospitals and nursing homes. Animal-human interaction has yet to become embedded into society’s healing system or part of a preventative medicine paradigm.
“Fundamentally, humans are relational beings,” explains Walsh. “Companion animals, although not for everyone, can meet many core psychosocial needs and enrich our lives. They provide pleasure and relaxation; deep affection and steadfast loyalty; and security and constancy in our changing lives,” she says. “Bonds with companion animals may not be our whole lives, but they can make our lives whole,” says Walsh.
Increasing GABA in the Brain
GABA, gamma-aminobutyric acid, is an amino acid made in brain cells from glutamate that functions as an inhibitory neurotransmitter that blocks nerve impulses. Without GABA, nerve cells fire too often and too easily. GABA is especially abundant in the cerebral cortex, where thinking occurs and sensations are interpreted.
GABA has a calming, rhythmic effect on the electrical impulses in the brain. While a balanced brain receives regular, smooth electrical impulses, a brain deficient in GABA receives impulses in spurts. As a result, the brain experiences arrhythmia or dysrhythmia, which directly affects overall emotional well-being. One of the four key neurotransmitters, GABA is particularly important because it helps keep all the other neurotransmitters in check.
There are a number of ways to naturally increase GABA in the brain, supplementing with GABA or L-theanine, and eating foods rich in GABA's building blocks. Doing yoga is also an option. Researchers in a 2007 Boston study found that yoga practitioners who completed a 60-minute yoga session had a 27% increase in GABA.
While there are as many reasons to be happy as there are ways to get to a more positive feeling place, a few factors, all of them backed by science, are particularly effective to improve mental well-being.
Sources
- Edwards, L. and Torcellini, P. “A Literature Review of the Effects of Natural Light on Building Occupants.” National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Department of Energy. July 2002.
- Küller R, Ballal S, Laike T, Mikellides B, Tonello G. “The impact of light and colour on psychological mood: a cross-cultural study of indoor work environments.” Ergonomics, 2006.
- Liberman, J. (1991). Light Medicine of the Future. New Mexico: Bear & Company Publishing.
- Lloyd, Robin, “The Keys to Happiness, and Why We Don’t Use Them,”LiveScience.com, February 2006.
- Ott Biolight Systems, Inc.; “See Better, Feel Better, Look Better.” California: Ott Biolight
- Systems, Inc. October 1997.
- Streeter, CC, Jensen JE, Perlmutter RM, Cabral HJ, Tian H, Terhune DB, Ciraulo DA, Renshaw, PF, "Yoga Asana sessions increase brain GABA levels: a pilot study." Journal of Complementary Medicine, May, 2007.
- Walsh, Froma et al. “Human-Animal Bonds I: The Relational Significance of Companion Animals.” Family Process, 2009.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only; it should not be used for diagnosis or to guide treatment without the opinion of a health professional. Any reader who is concerned about his/her health should contact a licensed medical professional.
Laura Owens - Laura Owens has a B.S. in Psychology from Rollins College & U of FL. She is a freelance writer with expertise in motivation & wellness.
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